That Which Does Not Kill Me
by JaxLass
Summary: Drabble trio/Bootstrap could lose more than his ship, Norrington talks of royal reprisal & Jack doesn’t like the island delicacy.


AN: Spoiler Alert**: Different teasers may include unseen material from established stories. **

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**Summary: Bootstrap could lose his ship, Norrington talks of royal reprisal & Jack doesn't like the island delicacy.**

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**THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL ME **

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1) **Price of Resurrection: Turner's Oath**. Wherein EITC Captain William Turner attempts to keep his promise despite the risk of losing his ship as well as his life if he's caught.

Turner nodded glumly. "At the end, Jeremiah, even _I _underestimated Bentley." He sighed, lowering the rescued slab of black wood. "But we've a shipment awaitin' us in the Carolinas. Give the order to weigh anchor, Mr. Whitley, and get Harrow up here. I'm afraid we can no longer tarry on a fool's hope."

"Aye, cap'n." Unable to shake a sudden feeling of doom, Jeremiah Whitley shot the burnt chunk of wood a final glance of remorse and lumbered to the stairs.

"AHOY! OFF TA' PORT BOW!!" Patchard bellowed from the crow's nest.

"Ship?" Turner dropped the wood to the deck, hastily raising his spyglass as he twisted back toward the rail. "Where she be?"

The sky had turned a dusky purplish-red of early evening, the restless waves sparkled crimson and distant squawking gulls winged below light-streaked clouds. A narrow semi-triangular silhouette riding low on the horizon was barely visible. Captain Turner squinted, thinking he could see the hazy outline of at least two forms in the boat, one manned the oars - the other appeared to be slumped into the bow.

"Looks to be a long-boat this time, cap'n," Whitley called from the bottom of the stairs, peering at the distant, floating object. "Mebbe survivors fer savin' after all."

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2) **A Pirate's Life No More**. Wherein the English Crown was not too happy when he learned of Sparrow's escape from the gallows in Port Royal.

"Unfortunately, Gillette fell into an ambush quite possibly orchestrated by Sparrow," Norrington returned wryly. "As well, I'm told his family petitioned the Crown to have the blacksmith's pardon revoked and to see that he and Elizabeth are charged with treason."

"Does his family have enough power to cause that to happen?" Groves wondered.

"Yes, quite possibly," the commodore conceded, a trace of worry in his tone. "I have heard that they leased several merchant ships to the EITC only to have most of them fall prey to the pirate activity of late."

"What of Governor Swann?"

"I'm afraid the entire _Black Pearl _incident has made him look rather bad," Norrington returned as he followed Groves into the companionway. "Though I would not speak ill of the poor man, others most certainly have. It would appear the Crown is outraged by the hanging - that did not, in fact, occur in Port Royal."

"Then we could_ all _be facing disciplinary action," Andrew remarked grimly. Yet before the weight of his own words hit him, he spotted his cabin boy plunging up the narrow steps at them, arms spinning.

Uh oh, an excited Trenton did not bode well these days.

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3) **Which Way Lies True**. Wherein Jack gets the real food that he craves - sort of.

Jack hesitated before he took the mug. It smelled potentially of boiled fish, watered-down whiskey and something sour that he didn't need to identify. "What is it?"

"Crab stew," Isaac replied proudly, pointing to a small cooking fire's wavering orange light further down the beach facing the cliff - the same place where Jack had battled the presumably deceased fowl. "Less wind for smoke," he explained, refraining from any comment on the charred black wood around him.

Jack bit the inside of his lip, holding the bowl away at a short distance. "You couldn't cook up one them sharks instead? Heard they taste much like chicken."

Isaac laughed, not offended. "You catch one, lad, I'll cook 'im up special for ya."

"Hmm." Jack mused for a moment. "Stranded on an island with a ship's cook and a half-blinded pirate." He shrugged, picking up the wooden spoon. "I've done worse."

"Leg farin' okay, is it?"

"Great." Jack shrugged again. "That is if I don't mind draggin' 'bout a bloody anchor," he remarked and idly stirred the stew in the bowl. "Sorry. Am I… er, drunk?"

Isaac chuckled. "No more so than a body what soaks his brain in Cabra's Spirits."

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**DISCLAIMER NOTE****: **Elements of _Seas of Justice_ are woven into _A Pirate's Life No More, Misplaced Hearts,_ and _Which Way Lies True_ for the purposes of foundation, entertainment, development and/or continuity only. They don't presume to replace PotC's content.


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